Recent content by sheepcat

Brewer's Friend also has a water chemistry calculator. Here. How much to add depends on what style you're shooting for, your volume of water, and your water's original mineral content.

Fratres, I got my hands on three varieties of unusual (South African) hops, and I'm looking to brew up three single-hop IPAs to get to know their qualities a little better. I'm going to be soaking enough specialty grain for all three batches and using extract, to be certain to get an...

I usually rehydrate my dry yeast at 100-105 F. Since you already said they survived, congratulations! I wouldn't drink anything fermented that hot, though.

For what it's worth, in the Brewing TV episode where they did an open fermentation, they racked off after high krausen had passed. I think the reason they gave was that they didn't want anything that had landed on the krausen to make it into the beer. If you're using a bucket with a lid that...

I'm not looking to make a batch of graff, but has anyone tried using specialty grains or a little bit of malt in their cider? I'm going to be adding pie spices, and the thought occurred that some Victory or Biscuit malt might add some crust-like character. Thoughts? Has anyone tried it?

Since you boiled off too much, you can always just add water back in. It could be the SG of your wort is too high and the yeast is struggling. If that doesn't work and you still don't see anything by now, I'd repitch.

Something else to add: bubbles may just be CO2 coming out of solution. Check the gravity in a few days. If it hasn't changed, you're done.

1-2 beans in secondary is a huge amount; I'd use 2 or 3, split lengthwise, chopped too, if you feel like it.

I made the recipe Beek posted, and it's been a huge hit. Highly recommend it! For adding the fruit: don't blend it. Strawberry seeds can be very bitter when cracked. Instead, I used a sanitized potato masher or something similar and smashed them by hand into a pulp. With a melomel, fruit...

Don't add vanilla at flameout or in the primary; like you said, adding an extract or whole beans after primary is finished is best. 1Tbsp ~ 1 bean, in my experience with it. The two beans will be noticeable, adding an extra tbsp should make it strong; I think more than that would be...

The only real issue you might encounter with a plus size bucket is oxygenation. Was the 3.5 gallons an appropriate gravity? I mean, did you boil off too much water, or did you not get enough wort to make five gallons post-boil? Did you aerate the wort? Lack of oxygen can cause a slow start...

Thanks for the replies. I used 40 qts for 20 lbs, and yep, I used Weyermann pils as the main source of barley here. Good to know it's something fairly normal. It did make some issues with draining the mash, but I managed. Thanks y'all.

Brethren, Last Saturday (30 JAN), I brewed an all grain dunkelweizen doppelbock, based mostly on the recipe from the latest Zymurgy. I used 2 lbs of oats, and about 6.5 lbs of wheat in a 20 lb grist. I mashed in at 115, let rest 20 mins, and then raised the temperature to 127 or so, to...

I'm fermenting in a 6.5 gallon carboy, so there's really only the one way for gas to get out. I'll look at a new top for the blowoff tube. It had a small ring of krausen around the edges, between 1/2 and 1/4 inch. When it was fermenting visibly and got warm, it bubbled up almost to the top...

Gentlemen, I had a weird experience with my first attempt at a chocolate coffee stout. I can post the recipe later if it's relevant. There were no issues regarding the mash, sparge, or boil, save that I ran out of propane midway and had to switch to another tank. It added about an extra 10...